White Roses in Summer
At
The House of Four Seasons
By Atonia Walpole
It’s the first day of summer and I’m waiting for him, my summer love, Max Skinner. I never know how he’s going to arrive. He’s like that…unpredictable and full of surprises. You might think after spending two summers together there wouldn’t be anything left to discover. Well, then you don’t know Max.
My spring left yesterday. What a sweet, wonderful man he is. There is something so basically wholesome and good there. I’m awfully glad it worked out. John was right. He did take care of me and I do love him very much. Now my seasons are complete, it’s time to start building that foreverness. Max and I have a good start. I entered his room early this morning and sat on his bed. No doubt I will be in it tonight with him. I get goose bumps just thinking about him.
Part 1:
He was a little embarrassed, actually. Of all times for summer to come. He was stuck in his little car. Oh, well, no doubt Toni would find it amusing. He drove as quietly as he could up to the house and backed carefully down by the garage. It was good to be back home
Toni having gotten tired of going from window to window all morning looking for him, walked out on the patio with a glass of iced tea. She hoped something hadn’t happened. He was usually here by lunchtime. She had seen him briefly in December when he came with Terry to rescue her and John. It wasn’t his season, of course, but he’d held her as long as he could and kissed her tenderly.
Max picked up his jacket from the seat and closed the door. He stopped a moment and took a deep breath, smiling to himself. It smelt like home. The scented roses, jasmine and gardenias created a perfume that surrounded him as he walked to the door. He didn’t knock…well, he lived there, didn’t he?
“Hello…” Hmm, nobody home?
He dropped his jacket on a kitchen chair and looked out the glass doors. There she was.
“Is anybody home?” he asked, walking through the doors.
Toni had just taken a big swallow of tea and she nearly choked. “M…Max, oh, Max!” She jumped up and ran to him. “I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.”
Max had her in his arms. “Don’t ever wonder that. You know I’ll be here.” He looked into her eyes for a moment and kissed her, taking his time and savoring every bit.
“I had a little problem,” he mugged, “getting here this time. It was the, um, transportation mode.”
“You walked?”
“Worse.” Slight smile.
Toni started a smile, “Is it yellow?”
“Very…you’ll finally get to see my little car.”
“Oh, Max…I’m so glad you’re home.”
The familiar feel and scent of him brought her senses to an alert. He was a heady perfume. He broke the kiss and still held her, looking into her eyes.
“There’s been a lot of talk about real life, real worlds. This is mine, Toni, and it’s enough. When the season drops I know where I’m going; I know where I am when I get here .I’m with you and I’m home.”
“Yes, you’re home. I love you, Max.”
He looked into her eyes and kissed the tip of her nose. “Right, now that we’ve got that settled, what’s for lunch?”
Toni felt a little light headed from the kisses and his nearness but she quickly pulled herself together. After all, he wasn’t going anywhere. “Grilled salmon, a crisp green salad and a nice chardonnay.”
After lunch they went out to have a look at the little yellow car.
Toni laughed, “Oh, Max, it’s a toy! However do you fold up in there?”
“Want to go for a spin?”
“Yes.”
He took her down the long drive to the gates and back, parking it in the garage. He had a look, making sure his bike was still there under wraps.
“Now then, love, what plans have you made for the afternoon?”
“Um…well.”
“Amazing isn’t it how our minds meld into one? Yours or mine?” he asked as they entered the house.
“Yours,” she answered and he turned, giving her a slight smile and squeezed her hand. It was really their room, he thought. Except for an occasional afternoon romp they pretty much stayed in his room. For him there was really no concept of time other than he’d been away long enough to miss her terribly and now he was back home. It had been during the last summer that he came to think of this place as home, a place where he belonged and where his woman waited for him with open arms. The door to his room was open as though he’d only stepped out, clothes in the closet, toiletries in the bath. This is where he lived, the only real life he would ever know.
It was a race to see who could get undressed first and into the bed. He always let her win this one, a little more time for his eyes to savor what his body was about to enjoy. They knew each other well and it didn’t take long for them to reach their rhythm.
For Toni when Max placed that white rose in her hair the night they danced under the stars was his defining moment. He sealed himself in her heart; no one could touch Max when it came to romance.
He kissed her hand and lay back on the pillow, a totally satisfied man…for the moment. “Thank you, Toni, for loving me.”
“Max, how could I not love you?” It was a question that had no answer. He came last summer uninvited because at that time she had decided to leave the house and close it down. But the magic had changed and Max was the first to let her know. He’d remembered the white rose and the house had remembered him and the strong love that had developed between them. There was never any question but that he would be her summer. The house had never dismantled his room.
“Oh, I could probably think of a lot of reasons…but let’s don’t think.” He pulled her to him and held her in his arms.
Later that day Max went around getting reacquainted with the house. Last summer a study/library had opened for him and it seemed everyone was making use of it. He noticed some of the books were out of order and straightened them up. The wine cellar had never disappeared nor had the pool. The tennis court had been neglected and he went to work tightening the net and unearthing the rackets and balls. The house would have done this for him but it liked that he would putter about on his own. He was at home here as he should be. It kept his bike covered up in the garage, however. It wasn’t too sure about the yellow thing parked outside…was it in fact a vehicle?
Toni found him down by the pool. He’d scooped a few leaves off the surface.
“Thinking of going for a swim?” she asked.
“Hi, Love, I was wondering what that was in the bottom of the pool, a coin or something?”
Toni walked to his side and looked down. “That’s Terry’s medallion. The chain broke.”
“Hmm, I’ll have to remember to get it out for him. He’s an all right bloke.”
“Yes…he is.”
“He saved your behind. Whatever were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t…obviously.”
“Have you been out, away from the property since then?”
“Oh, yes, Bud and I went all over Cape Anne. It’s close and there is the opportunity to get a ride home should we need one.”
“Good idea.” He looked up at her, “and Bud, he was okay?”
“Yes, he’s Spring, Max.”
“Good, then we’re complete.”
“Yes, we’re complete now.” She ran her fingers down his cheek and he took her hand, kissing her wrist. He never mentioned it again.
The hammock claimed them for awhile, lying in each other’s arms looking upwards at the leaves filtering the sunlight. It wasn’t a day for activity for the sports-minded Max. He wanted only her and to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the place.
He sat on the stone terrace at the table and waited while Toni fixed their dinner, grilled steaks and a baked potato. She’d brought out a bottle wine, made him taste it to see if it suited, and then tasted it on his lips before going back inside. Max thought there couldn’t be a happier, more contented man in the universe, no matter what world they inhabited.
Toni didn’t always cook for Max but tonight she wanted to, an extra ingredient of love for him. She thought he’d been strangely quiet today and brought it up as they were finishing their dinner on the terrace.
“Quiet? Oh, well, maybe I have. I think, Toni, it’s the realization of what we have here, what I have with you. It has quite honestly filled me today. I can’t think why especially today, maybe it was the fact that I came home to you on this day.”
Toni felt her eyes fill and she reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “I love you, Max Skinner.”
He smiled at her and squeezed back.
Foreverness had begun with these two. The house was satisfied and sighed, quite contented itself.
Neither of them were morning people. Toni had coffee appear in his room when she first became aware it was, in fact, morning. There was never any waking and cuddling. They regarded each other and each ambled off to their respective bathrooms for morning rituals and then it was back in the bed for coffee.
“The pillow…”
“Ummph?”
“That’s mine…”
“Huh uh…mine.”
“Yours is in the floor…”
“Mmmmf…”
Because she loved him, she picked his pillow up and threw it at him and poured him a cup of coffee. Stuffing the pillow behind his head he gratefully accepted the mug and leaned back with a groggy smile.
“How are you this morning?” she asked, climbing back in bed with her mug.
“I have no idea. What time is it?”
“The sun’s up.”
“Ah…promising.”
Part 2:
He was, Toni noticed after breakfast, full of energy today. There would be no lounging about in hammocks or quiet contemplative meals on the terrace.
“What do you want to do, Max?”
“I thought we might take the bike out, if you could throw some snacky things in a bag. There’s a lot of property here to ride.”
“Okay, sounds good to me. I’ll see what I can find.”
Toni headed for the pantry and Max went to get his bike out.
It was a good day for riding. There were roads and trails all over the place.
“I wonder if there is an end to this place?” she asked when they stopped to
share a bottle of water.
“I suspect not. Terry and I were going to try and find it but we never did. The fence went on for miles. I think it probably just expands as needed. How the bloody hell would I know how magic works?”
Toni looked at him thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t know about that, but I’m glad you never found an exit gate.”
“We were looking for you,” he reminded her.
Toni walked over to the side of the road.
“I’m glad we found you,” he said softly behind her.
“You’ll never know how scared I was, Max, of losing it all.”
“You weren’t the only one…ready to ride?” He wouldn’t tell her how frantic he and Terry were when they found out she and John were nowhere on the property. The SOS from the house had been bad enough, especially as it gave no indication as to the problem.
The house was bound by magic and certain rules could not be broken. It had done what it could and depended on Max and Terry for the rest. Their intelligence and the strong bond with Toni and each other as her seasons were what saved the day.
Toni mounted the bike behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. They found a stream and a shady spot for their picnic. The house had provided an insulated bag with cheese, apples and a bottle of Pinot Grigio.
Max stuck the bottle of wine in the stream to keep it cool and they lay back on the grassy banks with their feet in the water.
“That feels good.” Max liked the flow of the cool water across his feet.
“Yes, it does. You don’t realize how warm it is until the bike stops.”
“Let’s get wet!” Max was up, removing his clothes.
Toni followed suit and soon they were both next to the bank where the water had pooled up, cooling down. Of course cooling down with Max did not necessarily mean…cooling.
He finally pulled her out of the water, laughing, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure, Max, first time ever in a stream.”
“It was fun!” He pulled her against him and kissed her.
“Yes, it was.” Everything with Max was fun…everything was exciting and sex had always been the best.
They lay in the grass until they were dry enough to dress and then ate their food and drank the bottle of wine.
Max was lazily weaving back and forth down the road, turning once in awhile and catching her eye. She hugged him and laid her head on his back.
The days that followed were much the same. They swam in the pool, played tennis and walked on the beach, ate good food and played in the bed, or the pool house, or the gazebo and once in the boat house that had appeared on the pond. There was an old wooden boat to play with now.
“Stroke,” she laughed, propping her feet up on the side of the boat.
“Exactly…umf…what kind of stroke do you have in mind?” He pushed the boat along with a long pole.
“Are you working hard, darling?”
“I am and all for your comfort, I might add. What happened to the bleeding oars anyway?”
“They’re probably in the boat house. Did you look?”
“No, they should be in the bleeding boat.”
She made a little face. “Have a seat, love, and a glass of wine.”
He sat down, trying to fit the pole across the boat, nearly hitting Toni and finally giving it a toss into the water.
“Oh, now, we’re stranded in the middle of the pond!” she laughed, pouring his glass.
“I don’t really care. Perhaps the oars will float to the sides of the boat.”
“I could summon them, you know,” she smiled.
“You wait until I have poled us out here in the middle of the pond, with some effort I might add, and then tell me you could just like that – snap- and oars would appear?”
“Yes, darling. I do so love to see you suffer.”
“I believe you do. You’re a witch complete with cat, who I found on my desk this morning in the study.”
Toni trying her best not to grin. “And what was she reading?”
He looked over his glasses, “The Times.”
“Financial pages?”
“Millie and I have talked about my study. She knows that’s not her domain. I think you encourage her.”
“I do not! Millie is a free spirit. She goes where she pleases.”
“We’ve talked about that, too.”
“And what does Millie say?”
“I wonder how deep this pond is?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m about to toss you overboard.”
“You won’t because you love me.”
“You’re right…I do.”
It was the middle of July when Toni finally brought up the subject that had been in the back of her mind all summer. She hesitated because she wasn’t sure how Max was going to react. He was her lover, her playmate, and would be forever.
They were on the stone terrace one late afternoon and, as usual, with a bottle of wine.
“Max, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Yes, love?”
“How would you feel if you arrived and I was pregnant?”
“You aren’t…are you?”
“No, but it’s crossed my mind that I might want children.”
“I…I’m not sure, Toni, exactly how I would feel.” It was the last thing he expected to hear.
“Well, that’s why I’m asking.” She could see it had shocked him.
Unlike John who had not voiced his opinion, Max did. “I think you need to think about this, Toni. It’s more than just wanting children. The child would grow and have four fathers, Toni, or uncles, whatever you would call us. It would have to go to school. It would be different for the child living here in this magical house. How would you explain things? Would it be able to go out into the world or be confined here as you are. It’s not just a question of you being pregnant, it’s what follows.”
“You don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Actually, no, I don’t. Think about this, Toni. We don’t age. At some point in time the child would be older than you are.”
Toni realized she hadn’t thought of all the ramifications of having a baby here. She only wanted to give them babies. “But wouldn’t you want a child of your own, Max?”
“If we lived out there somewhere in another world, your world that you gave up, yes, I would love for you to have my baby. But, darling, we don’t live out there. This is what we have and it has to be enough.”
Toni looked down at her hands. She was going to cry.
He couldn’t stand to see her cry and went to her, pulling her to her feet. “Toni…please.”
“I know you’re right, Max. It’s just that I wanted to…”
“I know, darling. You would because you have so much love to give.” He put his arms around her and held her tightly to him.
“I guess it was just a dream, something I wanted to happen.”
“I’m sorry, love. You asked me and I told you what I thought. I honestly do not think this is a place for children. If you feel that strongly about having a child then…I think you would have to leave this place, Toni.”
“No…no, I will never leave here…I could never lose you, Max!”
“You’ve made your choice. There are things you must give up. I hate it has to be this way.”
Toni looked up at him. “You’re right. I did make my choice and I don’t regret it. I don’t.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sometimes he wondered, especially when they were out on the cape watching the boats, walking down the streets, in and out of shops, stopping for crab cakes.
“Absolutely, unless I could take all four of you with me out into the real world.”
“That would raise some eyebrows.”
“Yeah,” she smiled, “it would.” She was over it now. Max talked sense as he always did when it came to something serious. He wiped a stray tear with his thumb. “Oh, Max, I need you!” she cried.
“I’m here, Toni.”
They went upstairs to his room.
And he loved her.
Part 3:
Where they came from, she didn’t know and he wouldn’t tell her...two dozen white roses on her bedside table. He took one and placed it behind her ear.
“Sometimes there are no words,” he said and kissed her long and lovingly.
It was mid-morning of the 28th of August and he was leaving.
He didn’t want me to come downstairs and see him off, but I did anyway. Driving off in his little yellow car. It seems like summer has passed too quickly. I wasn’t ready for it to end. We’ve shared so much this season and have become so close, I think we are one person when we are together. Just when I think I have plumbed the depths of him I find there is more so much more to discover. How could I not love Max forever?
ON TO BONFIRE OF THE HEART
BACK TO SPRING CAME A CALLING
BACK TO WINTER MAGIC RETURNS
BACK TO FALL OF MY HEART, PART 1
BACK TO A SECOND SPRING, PART 1
BACK TO FALL, PART 1
BACK TO SUMMER, PART 1
BACK TO SPRING, PART 1
BACK TO WINTER
BACK TO BEGINNINGS
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